Understanding the vital importance

of Pre-heat and Post-heat when

welding higher-strength steels

Barry Robinson
0272864722
Barry@safegroup.co.nz
1
Too often, the welder and those responsible for the
welder’s actions are unaware of the importance of basic
heat treatment understanding in making a successful long-
lasting weld on high-strength or high-hardened steels.

The Quarry and Mining industries are full of these ‘exotic’

steels that require particular care when welding – or
indeed when applying heat in any form above
400degC, such as Gas cutting, Plasma or Laser cutting,
Flame cutting, and even heavy grinding.

This presentation focusses on the importance of Pre-Heat

and Post-Heat during welding. Because welding involves
melting two or three different pieces of steel together, a
welder becomes a Steelmaker, Steel-Caster, and most
importantly, a Heat-Treater.
The 2 basic steps of Hardening and Tempering:

Step 1. Hardening
Steel is hardened by heating to approx 850degC
“Cherry-red” to change the structure to “Austenite”.
The hot steel is then cooled quickly, usually quenched
in a liquid.

This creates “quenched martensite”, a hard, brittle and

structurally useless and dangerous condition.
Hardening must be followed immediately by tempering
to make it tough.

Oil-quenching from 900degC

Under the microscope untempered martensite shows up white.
Untempered Martensite is a hard and brittle structure, caused by
welding and sometimes small cracks will form in it – leading directly
to failure.

In the picture below you can clearly see the white band of brittle
martensite in the Bisalloy80. But take note that the ‘mild steel’ 1020
material also has a small amount in it.
Small cracks can form in hard brittle martensite:
So after Quenching (making the steel hard and
brittle by creating quenched martensite), the heat-
treater must always Temper the steel, thus
changing the dangerous Quenched Martensite into
the most desirable structure: ‘Tempered
Martensite’

Tempering is Step 2….

Step 2. Tempering

Tempering is re-heating the hardened steel to a

temperature usually between 200 and 650 degC.
On a pre-ground surface, 200degC is a pale ‘straw’
colour, and 650degC is a barely-visible dull red colour in
a dim ambient light.

As a rough guide for tempering temperatures:

Bisalloy 80: 550degC
Wear Steel G360/G450: 450degC
Wear Steel G500: 370degC
Tempering does these 3 vital things:

1. Changes the brittle quenched martensite to

tough tempered martensite – the toughest &
most desirable structure.

2. Lowers the hardness to that which is required

by the application.

3. Relieves the quenching stresses.

The properly hardened and tempered structure
is a mandatory requirement for:

> Good impact strength

> Good fatigue life
> Good tough tensile strength.

So how does this apply to Welding?

Following is the explanation of how a welder is
an unwitting heat-treater.
 A welder is a Heat-Treater

Not only is the weld metal heated, but also

the steel immediately next to the molten weld
metal (the Heat-Affected Zone or ‘HAZ’). The
heat in this zone varies from approx
1400degC downwards.

Take note that we are talking about the

Parent material, NOT the weld metal. This is
completely independent of type of rod or filler
metal used.
 A welder is a Heat-Treater

Parent material in the temperature band of 1400degC

down to 850degC is chilled (quenched very fast) by
the cool mass of parent metal and can readily harden
to 55 HRc depending on the Carbon Equivalent.

Cool steel quenches hot steel much better than a liquid!

This means a welder is much more effective at
creating hard brittle martensite in steel than a heat-
treater is.
Creation of hard brittle martensite (with associated root
cracking) can be reduced by high and thorough pre-heat,
but only a proper post-weld heat-treat (PWHT) can
achieve the ‘big 3’ essentials of:

✓ Tempering the martensite, transforming the brittle

quenched martensite into desirable, tough
Tempered Martensite.
✓ Lowering the hardness.
✓ Relieving the stresses.
 Pre-heat for Welding

Preheating slows the rate at which the parent material

draws the heat out of the weld.

A thorough and hot enough preheat will reduce the risk

of tiny quench cracks occurring in the HAZ (Heat-
Affected Zone)

Preheat must be thorough, and must be maintained for

the duration of welding.

Measure the temperature well – and be very careful

with infra-red ‘laser point’ devices as they do not
measure temperature!
How hard a steel will get in the HAZ (or how much martensite
is created) is governed by its Hardenability.

Hardenability is measured by Carbon Equivalent:

CE(IIW) = C + Mn + (Cr + Mo + V) + (Cu + Ni)

6 5 15

Using this simple calculation will quickly give you an idea of

whether preheat or PWHT may be required.

The Carbon Equivalent number can be used together with the

steel thickness to give you an idea of the level of preheat
required in the following table.
 Thickness of workpiece

20mm 40mm 60mm 80mm 100mm

0.3 150 150 150 150 170

0.35 150 150 170 180 190

Carbon Equivalent

0.4 180 190 200 210 220

CE (IIW)

0.5 200 210 220 230 250

0.6 220 240 260 270 280

0.7 250 270 280 300 320

0.8 280 300 320 340 350

Approximate guide for minimum weld preheat temperatures

(Degrees Celsius)
• A high preheat will help prevent hard martensite, and
cracking around the weld.

• PWHT will transform hard brittle martensite to tough

tempered martensite.

• PWHT will relieve some nasty weld stresses.

• Do not exceed the Temper temperature of the lowest-

tempered steel in the job during PWHT!

• Cracked welds have stress-relieved themselves already! ☺

This digger bucket sidewall, fractured when small cracks
in the HAZ (Heat-Affected Zone) of the welds grew to
be large fatigue cracks that propagated until failure
occurred. Root cause = No preheat & No post heat.
This heavy transport axle snapped suddenly. You can clearly see the
layer of hard brittle martensite caused by the weld.
Where was the Post Weld Heat Treatment?
This failed shaft material had a high Ceq of 0.55, which means that it is
essential that the parts are properly preheated for welding, and fully PWHT
(stress-relief / temper) after welding.

The fact that we observe untempered martensite in the HAZ points to either a
poor weld procedure, the procedure not being followed, or the shaft being
welded without a weld procedure. Just look at these hardness test results…..
A General, best-practice welding guide
for hardened Wear Steel & GET Parts.
1. Ensure clean weld surfaces & the correct weld preps
2. Lightly tack the parts in position. Caution*
3. PREHEAT the welding area to 150-250degC.
4. Fully weld the parts together with correct wire or rods.
5. When welding is finished, cover the welded area with
a welding blanket to allow SLOW COOLING.
6. Once cooled, heat the area up again to approx.
30degC lower than the tempering temp of the lowest
tempered part, cover with a welding blanket to allow
slow cooling again. This is the POST HEAT treatment
which has now softened the brittle HAZ and hopefully
de-stressed your steel & the welds, significantly
reducing the risk of failure/cracking.
 Barry Robinson
0272864722
Barry@safegroup.co.nz